LHB Erector Set

October 29, 2005

The perky beat of ''Dance Music," balmy ''Love Love Love," and the gutsy military march that fuels the revenge fantasy ''Lion's Teeth" came off less like deceptively animated dirges and more like diseased monuments to hope.

"What we've done already is basically record in our own studio," Tweedy says. "We set up without headphones in a circle and roll tape based on us trying to get ourselves balanced as much as possible, without using the mixing console."

I listened to XTC's Apple Box yesterday, which includes the band's Apple Venus and Wasp Star albums, along with their respective demos, Homespun and Homegrown. It's a great package, with a 64-page booklet of liner notes and lyrics, the perfect holiday present for a pop music fan (the four disc box set is released this week in Europe).

The GBV shirt database continues to grow, with 55 different shirts now accounted for (for the record, I only have two Guided By Voices shirts, both gifts, the flag (back) and Postal Blowfish 10th anniversary shirts).

Episode 11 of the Bat Segundo Show includes a roundtable discussion with authors Laila Lalami, Scott Esposito, Beth Wadell and Tito Perez.